Bananas are normally harvested by cutting a bunch of bananas from the pseudostem on which it grew. Subsequent to harvest, bunches are often broken down into smaller connected groups called “hands” or, synonymously, “clusters.” It is common to harvest and then ship bananas while the peels are green. Long-distance shipment is often performed at low temperature (for example, at 14° C.). Bananas are considered to ripen very slowly during such shipment, during which the bananas normally remain green.
It is also common, once the bananas have reached a location near where they will be sold, to place them in an enclosed volume and expose them to ethylene gas. Typical ethylene exposure is 24-48 hours at 14-18° C. in an atmosphere that contains ethylene at concentration of 100-1000 microliter per liter (ppb). After the exposure to ethylene, the bananas normally ripen more quickly. As the bananas ripen during a normal ripening process, the peels gradually turn yellow; the peels remain yellow for some time; then the peels develop a small number of black spots; and eventually the bananas become undesirably over-ripe.
It is desirable to maintain bananas for as long as possible in a desirable condition (i.e., a condition in which they are desirable to consumers). Bananas in that condition are ripe but have not developed undesirable post-ripening characteristics such as, for example, one or more of the following: peel with a large number of black spots, black peel, pulp that has turned undesirably brown, or pulp that has turned undesirably soft.
R. M. Basel, et. al., in “Long Shelf Life Banana Storage Using MAP Storage Coupled With Postharvest MCP Treatment” (Institute of Food Technologists, 2002 Annual Meeting and Food Expo, available at http://ift.confex.com/ift/2002/techprogram/paper—13343.htm), describe the use of modified atmosphere package (MAP) and 1-methylcyclopropene (MCP). The methods of Basel, et. al., postpone the onset of ripening of bananas and, once ripening begins, extend the ripening process.
It is desired to provide methods in which bananas ripen sufficiently to become desirable for retail sale and/or consumption and in which bananas remain in such desirable condition for a longer time than in previous methods. It is particularly desired to find a method of storing and handling bananas that allows the bananas to remain for a longer time in condition that is desirable for eating.